Independence

//**Definitions:**//
 * Freedom from the control, influence, support, or aid of others.

//**Discussion:**// Use the discussion board to share your personal thoughts, experiences and understandings of this virtue as we progress through the week. Participation is optional, but encouraged. Click on the discussion tab to begin.

//**Quotables:**// Collect quotes that relate to this virtue and share them here. Edit the page, and add the quote and author. Then, give a brief explanation of how that quote relates to the target virtue.


 * "Now, child," said Aslan, when they had left the trees behind them, "I will wait here. Go and wake the others and tell them to follow. If they will not, then you at least must follow me alone." - C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian
 * This quote shows the importance of standing up for one's own beliefs and doing what is right even when others do not agree. Of the four Pevensie children, Lucy is the only one who initially sees and believes in Aslan and the first to see him again when they all return to Narnia in //Prince Caspain//. Aslan encourages her to act independently, to follow him even if the others do not follow.
 * "Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong." -Winston Churchill
 * I think that this quote is not talking literally about trees but instead is alluding to independent humans. It explains that if an independent person survives and stays independent then in the end that person will strive and be strong.-Will Egerton


 * It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. **[|Ralph Waldo Emerson] **, //Self-Reliance//
 * We discussed this quote from Emerson as a class during the transcendental unit. The quote discusses how it is easy to live independently when in solitude however, it is harder to keep independence when immersed into societies pressures and beliefs. A person must retain a sense of individuality and independence throughout life.


 * "The beauty of independence, departure, actions that rely on themselves." Walt Whitman
 * Whitman's idea on independence is that it is an actions of an individual that somehow takes on their own responsiblity. In such a way that it acts upon itself and are given enough departure from something to grow on its own. So basiclly independence is a branch off of the idea of individualism.
 * “The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.”- Denis Waitley
 * // This quote is saying that there is nothing more important in a Childs’ life, than teaching them to be independent and not rely on everyone else for everything. //

> Be a hero in the strife !"- Henry Longfellow
 * " Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
 * This quote is saying that a person should not follow the crowd. A person should perservere and not be like every other person. They should be independent and live a life of their own and not depend on the other "cattle" to form your path.

It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), Self-Reliance Emerson's Self-Reliance was talked about a lot this year in class. Learning about the little spark of definity in each person. That spark is what will allow everyone to be independent of society and others.

Voyager upon life’s sea:--To yourself be true, And whate’er you lot may be, Paddle your own canoe. Dr. Edward P. Philpots This quote is saying that you must be true to yourself and be independent from others. You can’t depend on anyone else to paddle your canoe, you must do it yourself. You can not learn to depend on other people, you have to do things yourself.
 * "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions; their lives a mimiery, their passions a quotation." -Oscar Wilde
 * This quote talks about being yourself. This quote is very well representented in high school. For example, if a cheerleader in our school gets something new, everyone else in the school will have the same exact thing within the next week. Everyone is afraid to stand out in a crowd.
 * “[|You have to do it yourself, no one else will do it for you. You must work out your own salvation.]”- Charles Peoplestones
 * This quote is talking about being your own person, and that alone you can succeed becoming better by yourself. Just like Gatsby's travel would of had to be alone up the latter.
 * Independence? That's middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.
 * This is saying independence doesn't exist but in some form of way we all depend on someone. Kids are dependent on their parents, workers are dependent on their bosses to give them money, teachers are dependent on kids to show up so they make money. Every single person relies on someone even in the slightest way.
 * “I do this real moron thing, it's called thinking, and I'm not a very good Amercian because I like to form my own opionions.” -George Carlin
 * This quote reflects the darker side of the American dream; the warped and disfigured concept of the failed American dream. Independence is one of the few virtues that, by definition, resist this disfigurement and emerge as pure as their definition. The truest integrity of the American dream is in independence, as it is the stepping stone for building your own American dream.
 * **"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." - Henry David Thoreau**
 * **Thoreau is saying in this quote that a person should not be afraid to do something just because his friends do not want to do the same thing. He should become independent and march to the beat of his own drum. If that beat happens to be the same as your friends then that is great. However, it would be foolish to give up what you want to do because you do not want to be away from your friends or you feel embarrassed. No matter what, "step to the music" which you hear.**
 * All we ask is to be let along- Jefferson Davis
 * This quote by Jefferson Davis is asking the Union for independence and basically saying that they are a independent state that doesn't need the support or acknowledgment of the union

"Either you run the day or the day runs you." - Jim Rohn This quote shows independence because one needs to break away from society (the day) and do their own thing, become independent.
 * “[|for those who would joyously march in rank and file, they have already earned my contempt, for they were given a large brain by accident when a spinal chord would have sufficed.]” -Albert Einstein
 * Those who follow others and don't think for themselves have no need for a brain. A brain would imply independent thought whice these people lack so the brain is wasted. The only neccesity is a spinal cord to support the body.
 * [|It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions; it is easy in solitude to live after your own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the **independence** of solitude]”
 * The quote represents the Independence virtue, because it shows how easy it is to follow a leader and not speak for yourself. It is only when you keep your own thoughts and become and individual in the midst of a conforming crowd that you are truly independent.


 * "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
 * This quote by Emerson explains that it is important to be individual and independent. The first step to becoming independent is to be individual, and unique, and separate yourself. It shows how our world corrupts the human mind and turns us all into the same typical group of people. If independence is practiced, it could solve what the world really wants you to be.

> though you may vote alone, > and you may cherish the sweetest reflection > that your vote is never lost." -John Quincy Adams > when you've got money. > But to be independent when you > haven't got a thing -- > that's the Lord's test. > Mahalia Jackson I like this quote because it shows how being independent isnt as easy as some may think it is. it differs from person to person and things in life like poverty, make it extremely difficult to have independence [|**Queen Gorgo**]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416449/quotes > This quote from 300 (the best movie ever) Shows that while freedom comes at the cost of many lives and an incredible amount of struggle, it is worth it. It is worth fighting to be independent//.// Going deeper one could determine that according to this quote death would be worse than oppression//.// //-“Men say they love independence in a woman, but they don't waste a second demolishing it brick by brick.”--Candice Bergen//
 * "Always vote for principle,
 * This quote explains how you should choose what you want, regardless of what everyone else may say. Your independence will make a difference.
 * It's easy to be independent
 * This is saying that men look for women that are independent so the can take it away.